June 13: The club has now officially announced the deal, assigning Ramirez to Durham.
June 11: The Rays and right-hander Erasmo Ramirez are “working to finalize a minor league deal,” Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times writes. On his Twitter feed, Topkin notes that the agreement is “likely to happen.”
Ramirez is a familiar face at Tropicana Field, as the righty posted a 3.98 ERA over 323 1/3 innings with the Rays from 2015-17 before Tampa dealt him to the Mariners in advance of the July 2017 trade deadline. That move itself was a bit of a homecoming since Ramirez pitched the first three seasons of his career in Seattle, but since the trade Ramirez has become a journeyman, pitching for five different teams over the last six MLB seasons.
Most recently, Ramirez pitched for the Nationals in 2022-23, first joining Washington a minors deal in the 2021-22 offseason and delivering a 2.92 ERA over 86 1/3 innings in 2022. That quality performance earned Ramirez a guaranteed $1MM Major League to return to D.C. this past offseason, but he has had a much rougher time of things this season. The right-hander has a 6.33 ERA over 27 relief innings, and while Ramirez has never been a big strikeout pitcher, his 10.3% strikeout rate is his lowest in any full season. The Nationals designated and then ultimately released Ramirez earlier this week.
While the results haven’t been there for the 33-year-old, a return to Tampa Bay might prove beneficial for Ramirez, given the Rays’ success at rejuvenating pitchers’ careers or finding hidden gems on the mound. That said, the Rays’ magic has been tested this season amidst a lot of injuries, and the bullpen has been posting middling numbers. Getting a long reliever like Ramirez to eat innings and limit damage would be very beneficial for the Rays as they try to get healthy and figure out how to get their bullpen on track for the playoff run.
He’s gonna be a cy young caliber if the rays end up signing him
He’ll go from shot pole to Cy Young.
Erasmo J. Ramirez?
Erasmus is synonymous with freedom of speech, respect for others, knowledge and culture, tolerance and education.
Holy crap, Erasmo (spelling error at birth?) has a lot to live up to…
I am genuinely surprised that Erasmo Ramirez has been around seen 2012, it feels surreal realizing he has been playing for as long as Bryce Harper has
Seems that long as Erasmo’s been in Rotterdam mostly.
Saw him his first few years in Seattle. The Rays will sprinkle their pitching resurrection powder on him and he will do well.
Erasmo will be a DFA by the trade deadline…
Seattle
Tampa
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Boston
Mets
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Washington
His prior employers in the MLB, and he is way, way past the point of being able to be optioned, so if he is brought up to Tampa, then he must be DFA to get him off the 26-man roster (barring injury).
Can he still Erasmo hitters? That is the question.
Ramirez was a decent starter for the Rays–in 2015. Pitchers on this team are dropping like flies so i would expect more moves like this throughout the season
It would be great to see if the Eraser still has something in the tank.
Exterminator Ramirez
One of the few players left I have a hard time not remembering being in pro ball. He was super hyped up as an 18 year old.